Make/Believe celebrates diversity of art making

22 August 2011

"Art does not belong to museums, to the state or to universities. It's bigger than that. It's a part of living, like breathing," Stuart Shepherd told guests at a recent curator's talk about Arts Access Aotearoa's Make/Believe exhibition, on in the Bowen House exhibition space in Wellington until Thursday 25 August.

“In 1978, I went to Moscow and I saw state-sanctioned public art: one form of socialist art, one car design, one colour for packaging,” he said. “I want to live in a community where diversity of expression is celebrated – not where diversity is feared.

“So I’m pleased to be a part of this show, which celebrates the diversity of art-making in New Zealand.”

Stuart, artist and academic, curated Make/Believe, an exhibition showcasing the work of artists attending creative spaces from Dunedin through to Auckland.

Arts Access Aotearoa gathered more than 250 images from creative spaces and every image is in the show via a continually revolving digital presentation. From these images, Stuart selected 34 works for hanging in the Bowen House space.

“A working title for the show was ‘materials and processes’. This is what I wanted to use as my measure – the artist’s choice of materials and their particular response to those materials,” he explained. “This is a modernist approach to art and art-making.”

Taking the guests on a guided tour of the 34 works, Stuart said another element in his selection process was the ability of the work to “delight” him.

Stuart commented on what delighted him about each artist and his/her work.

Alpha Art Studio, Wellington

Damon Catchpole: “a strong three-dimensional and tactile presence”

Martin Kershbaumer: “his use of colour washes and the creation of cave-like, pictorial spaces.”

Shaun O’Riordan: “the physicality of the work and energy of the text-based graffiti”

Juliet Nally: “bold and expressive construction of a painting as an object”